My trusty Laney playing up

OilCityPickups

Anyone know a good amp tech in east/north east London or south Essex? My Laney LC30 Mk 2 has developed an annoying problem. A few months ago it started to get a  volume fluctuation ... suddenly losing power then getting it back ... at first I thought it was a fault in my pedal chain ... as un cabling everything and re cabling it seemed to sort it -  till the next time. The valves were getting old ... so I did a complete re-valve as a matter of course ... but still the problem popped up from time to time. Then I noticed it seemed to be connected with the 'hi' input ... so I plugged everything into the 'lo' imput and the problem went ... for a long while ... now it seems to be back ... though not as obvious ... and fiddling with the input jack seems to stop it.
I'm guessing that the sockets or wiring from the inputs to the chassis are stuffed ... or rather hoping it's that, rather than a component going down. The intermittent nature of the fault makes tracking it down a bastard. Getting the amp chassis out is a bit of a pain ... but I suppose I could replace the sockets myself fairly easily. They are the nasty, all plastic types, and if I remember correctly are on a cabled 'extension' from the main board so not really going to be a problem to change.
Problem is, with the new band rehearsing, and gigging coming up, I need the old girl to be on song ... and I'm so busy winding pickups I don't really have time to be gutting a Laney!

ICBM

It could just be the jack contacts - both of them use the inbuilt switching - the signal from the Low input passes through the High jack (tip contact switch), and the cathode bypass connection to V1 which changes the gain level goes through the Low jack (ground contact switch).

Those jacks aren't actually that nasty, but they do have a problem with the contacts getting strained or corroded over the years and then the switching not working properly. You can usually clean them or close them up again by bending the contacts back into place (although describing how to do that is surprisingly difficult!), but it may be better just to change them. Use gold-plated ones, the switching is more reliable.

I agree Laneys can be a pain in the arse to get apart - often the vinyl is poorly stuck down and snags on the chassis when you're trying to get it out, which is one of the things I really dislike about them! But it still should be only a 10-15 minute job.

OilCityPickups

The jacks sockets have had some abuse ... the amp was used by others at jams a few years ago and a lead got trodden on ... leading to the 'nut' flying off ... and the socket disappearing inside the front panel! That was the last time I had the amp apart ... and yes the vinyl stuck like a bastard! For all their shortcomings I love the Laney's clean channel with the 'bright switch' ... and use that far more than the overdrive which can be too dark and 'tizzy' at high gain settings. However the clean channel wicked right up with a TS808 in front is absolutely brilliant to my ears.

Oh ... know a good supplier for gold contact sockets? (Bugger)Allparts seems to out of stock of everything as usual ...

ICBM

They seem surprisingly hard to get online at the moment! I think I got my last lot from Maplins when I was in a hurry, but they don't seem to list them now...

OilCityPickups

Oh bottoms ... I may have to try the 'contacts bend' and clean ... though it irks me to have to take the chassis out and not make a proper job of it

ICBM

You could use nickel-plated, they'll last as long as the old ones did probably!

OilCityPickups

Guess they'll have to be it then ... should be one switched (break before make) and one un-switched shouldn't it? Seeing I want to order the bloody things before chassis juggling

ICBM

Both switched - 4 pins if they're PCB mounted. Normally closed contacts.

OilCityPickups

Nah they're panel mounted on fly leads if I remember correctly. Thanks geezer ... I'll get some ordered and hope that cures the problem.

McToot

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Anyone know a good amp tech in east/north east London or south Essex?

What about the chap from JPF Amps who came to the first boozy evening in the City - he must be pretty close...?

 

OilCityPickups

He's in Denmark St I think ... don't fancy driving the Laney into town or lugging the brute on the tube!!!! I will replace the sockets and see if that polishes any shiny helmets.